The official "I still use VHS" thread

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Dude111

This one bud

http://www.videokarma.org/showthread...03#post3087303

Ah, gotcha. I hadn't followed that thread beyond my post. Thanks for that link. I'm hoping it will show up at my shop, but that seems unlikely.

Obviously, Hollywood blockbusters are not my thing.

[Dude111]

I thihk your quite lucky having a shop that collects VHS to sell!!

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by Dude111

I dont see why you think the page is a joke.....

VHS is analog and ANALOG HAS ALWAYS BEEN NICER!! (The sound is nicer and a true analog picture is quite nice too!!)

Analog sound and video can be fine, but it is not "always nicer" in my opinion, or the opinion of most people I know. Digital is not "always nicer", either.

I have cable and DirecTV so i have to look @ compromised video and its horrible! (Sound isnt as natural sounding either (compromised) (I dont care to watch much of it to be quite frank with you about it!))

You and I agree 100% here. Cable and especially satellite TV almost always look very lousy. It is their exact business model to do the maximum amount of digital compression they can get away with, without getting too many complaints from customers (but definitely accepting SOME amount of complaints as meaning "good enough").

Also I would rather watch movies I have loved ALL MY LIFE in the same analogue format I have always loved them in! (I want them to look/sound EXACTLY THE SAME)

Either that, OR

I want them to be THE BEST THEY CAN BE

You cannot have both-those are opposites!

Technology does improve. Even late-release commercial VHS tapes looked mich better than the early 1980s releases of the same movies. But Blu-ray versions of almost any movie just completely blow away and crush ANY previous home-video version in every case that I have seen. I hope you have a chance to see a Blu-ray movie on a good high-definition display; it is really a wonderful experience to see the fine detail and full wide-screen picture exactly as the director intended theater-goers to see, but in your own home (or a friend's home). That does not mean you cannot enjoy movies or other programming in various analog formats; I do so here as well, primarily Laser Discs of many music-video releases that are not available on newer formats (or indeed do not look any better in a DVD version; it does happen!). One of these days, I will pull out some of my video tapes recorded in 1979-1990 and watch them, too.

its sad this digital crap has infested our world.... Its total garbage!!

There is no point in trying to respond to such a comment.

[beat_truck]

I like the crisp picture of a DVD, but I have no problem watching VHS tapes. I grew up with VHS and still use it. I have hundreds of pre recorded movies, and still buy them. They are $.50 at the local thrifts and are plentiful. I don't record much anymore unless it is just something on TV that I want to watch later on.

I used to record from TV all the time, but now there isn't hardly anything on that I want to see. Nearly all of the movies I taped years ago have been replaced with DVDs, pre recorded tapes, and some downloads because the cable we had years had a very crappy picture.

[snelson903]

i still use vhs ,and even cassetts in cars & truck, if isnt broke why fix it. we use everything dvd cds , hook the ipod to a 1966 floor model stereo , it all works together.

[Charlie]

My main video recorder is a Panasonic VCR/DVD... have had it about 10 years I think... maybe more.

I also have an LG VCR/DVD recorder, but the DVD's dont always come out... you get halfway through recrording something and it tells you "you cant do this." Or, it gets to the end, finalizes the DVD, and then says ERROR. You might get lucky and find you can still play it.

So, I will continue to use my Panasonic because it seems to be bullet proof. Now and then, I will use the VCR in the LG just to keep the belts exercised.

Before my Panasonic, I had a Teac HIFI 4head VCR bought back in the early 90's... got ten years use out if it. I liked that machine.

[Electronic M]

Could it be macrovision messing it up?

[Dude111]

I HATE MACROVISION!!

I have the movie HOUSE ARREST on VHS (HBO Video) and its got MACROVISION and looks like crap!!

I would LOVE finding a copy on VHS that was not by HBO video!! (Probably wouldnt have this garbage)

[Harvestman]

I have begun cataloguing my VHS collection, and currently have around 120 tapes.

My parents were clearing out their VHS tapes, so I gladly acquired tapes like the Beatles' Anthology (sadly not in optimal quality) and 12 hours of "Friday Night Videos" from 1982 to 1986.

I've just finished setting up a two-deck setup for recording short segments of particular tapes onto a separate tape - a sort of "best-of" compilation, if you will.

Just out of curiosity - does anyone know when the first VCRs with stereo RCA outputs came onto the market?

[Ed in Tx]

First stereo VCRs I recall, linear stereo, no stereo tuner, not Hi Fi, Panasonic PV-1780 and the PV-6000 portable and about 1983. I owned one of each. I have old MTV recordings I made on them in stereo, when the cable co. carried the stereo audio on an FM frequency around 88 mHz, and used the "simulcast" function of the VCR to record video from the cable box and audio from an FM tuner. First Hi Fi came 1984, still no MTS stereo tuner until late '84-85 models.

[Ed in Tx]

Originally Posted by Harvestman

I've just finished setting up a two-deck setup for recording short segments of particular tapes onto a separate tape - a sort of "best-of" compilation, if you will.

Also, when you do that, copy a tape to another, you lose another generation of quality. More video noise, wow and flutter, other artifacts of the process get added every time you copy.

Let me know when you're done with those. I have about 1,000 tapes tapes here you can go through!

[Harvestman]

Originally Posted by Ed in Tx

Also, when you do that, copy a tape to another, you lose another generation of quality. More video noise, wow and flutter, other artifacts of the process get added every time you copy.

Hey, it comes with the format...

Besides, it's better than rewinding and fast-forwarding 90 million times to find a certain clip.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by Harvestman

Just out of curiosity - does anyone know when the first VCRs with stereo RCA outputs came onto the market?

If I remember right, Akai was the first to manufacture and sell stereo (VHS) VCRs, probably in 1981. As Ed said, they (and the others that followed) split the audio track space on a regular VHS tape into two halves to record in stereo, and they added Dolby noise reduction to help compensate for the half-size audio recording area. Later, Hi-Fi audio (audio multiplexed onto the video signal/recording area) came along, that blew away the linear sound quality.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by Harvestman

12 hours of "Friday Night Videos" from 1982 to 1986.

Totally awesome! I still have all of my original Friday Night Videos recordings on Beta tapes from that same period.

Originally Posted by Ed in Tx

I have old MTV recordings I made on them in stereo, when the cable co. carried the stereo audio on an FM frequency around 88 mHz, and used the "simulcast" function of the VCR to record video from the cable box and audio from an FM tuner.

That is how I made my Friday Night recordings, on a Sony Beta Hi-Fi VCR, with the stereo audio from the local FM radio station that transmitted the matching audio.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by Ed in Tx

Also, when you do that, copy a tape to another, you lose another generation of quality. More video noise, wow and flutter, other artifacts of the process get added every time you copy.

My hope is to someday bring my recordings into the 21st century, or at least the late 20th century, and copy each song video into an individual computer file. Then, I could either make DVDs with directly-accessible songs, or even make rearranged tapes if I ever want to play with that for fun. Or, just let a computer play them infinitely as desired with no further quality loss or wear.